ESF fees increase - a letter to the SCMP

This is a letter that was sent to the SCMP by James Middleton. Only part of it was published, and I have placed brackets [] round the parts that were cut:

ESF schools suffering

According to the ESF accounts 2005-6 in 2003-4 the ESF educated 6,007 Primary and 5,782 secondary students.(11,789)

In 2005-2006 they educated 6,444 primary and 6,260 secondary students. (12,704) By now this is probably an increase of 1,000 children being educated by ESF since 2003-4. Many more sit on the waiting list - there is huge demand. To any sensible Government this shows that there is a significant need to provide additional assistance to the growth of the organisation in this 'World City' whilst ensuring the excesses of the past do not re-occur [such as buying property at the property market peak for the former chief executive because she did not like the one she was housed in].

However the current accounts show the opposite, a drop in subvention as a result of the Government freezing the number of classes it subvents and reducing the subvention per class by 1.8% from the 1999/2000 level with effect from September 2003, 4.8% from January 2004, 6.44% from April 2004,9.572% from April 2005 and 12.372% from April 2006 (all figures cumulative).

In an interview with Arthur Li in 1998 (the enlightening interview in full is at www.asian-affairs.com) whilst he was then the Vice Chancellor of the Chinese university he stated:

[The SCMP version of the letter includes only a very brief summary of this interview:

Professor Li said he kept telling the government that education was an investment. He pointed out that Hong Kong had no natural reserves, only people. If we did not invest in them and did not train them to be more competitive, we would not survive. ]

[" The Financial Secretary thinks he is being prudent keeping the money. My view is that Hong Kong must invest in the future. My colleagues and I keep telling the government that education must not be looked at as an expenditure. It is an investment. In Hong Kong, we don’t have any natural reserves, no oil, no gold mines, we have only people. If we don’t invest in them, make them better trained, more competitive, more suitable for a global economy, we are not going to survive. Hong Kong will just become another city in China! So keeping the money is one thing, but it is not an end in itself. The government has to use it not only for the rainy days but for our future. " ]

I presume that Mr Li included native English speakers in his above quote. He goes on to say:

[The problem in the Civil Service is the lack of talent. Before 1997, many of the very able senior civil servants left the administration, either because they didn’t get on with (the last governor) Chris Patten or they worried about immigration or their future. If you look at the present top civil servants, they have all been promoted extremely rapidly through the ranks. They don’t have a great deal of experience in dealing with problems . This is why, for example, the handling of the chicken flu was a disaster. Many problems are dealt with by young people who are learning on the job rather than by experienced people. Young people are sensitive to criticism. When you try to be helpful the Civil Service thinks that it is under attack. So it puts up the shutters, it doesn’t want to know. It doesn't listen. This is rather sad.

Q.- Is inexperience the only problem of the Civil Service? A.L.- No. There is also a great deal of inefficiency. So on the one hand you want to support the government very much, on the other hand you see that it is really bumbling around. It is very sad, because if you stand up and criticize its lack of action or its policies, you are considered a bad guy. >From that moment on, it won’t listen to whatever you say. If you don’t stand up, it thinks it is doing all right. So what happens is that the government likes to surround itself with people who think it is doing all right, without even listening to those who could come forward with different ideas. "

Q.- As a measure to fight unemployment among the young the government has announced that the tertiary institutions will take an additional one thousand students. Isn’t it a positive measure ?

A.L.- It is a complete U-turn. Last year, we put to the government that we needed an additional one thousand students, to train them for specific purposes like becoming teachers, electronic engineers and so on having in mind that we need to develop high-added value industries. Our request was rejected. Now, because of the economic crisis, the government suddenly comes back to us saying; “now you take on an additional one thousand students, but we have no money for you”.

Q.- Is the cost very high? A.L.- For the government, it is not much. But it is typical. The government may be working very hard, but there is no communication with us. We don't understand what is going on . Why can't it come out and tell us: “this is for the future of Hong Kong, this concerns all of us, we are looking into these possibilities, and we ruled out these possibilities, or we think this one is the best one”. But the government does not share the information.

Of course, in the past, the colonial system has been very high handed, but that style of government has to change. "]

[High handed ? The pot calling the kettle black.] I note Arthur Li was educated at St. Paul's Co-educational College . It is operated under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS), and was the first subsidised school to join the scheme. I agree with him that Government needs to invest in our people through their education , including those whose mother tongue is English without discrimination and they need to look at increased investment in the ESF not as expenditure but as an important part of the future of Hong kong.

Arthur needs to remember his words spoken before he joined Government and act upon them now he is in the hot seat.

James Middleton